IV drug error payout

Intravenous news: oclnn.com report ‘Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo has been fined $50,000 by the state for an incident last year in which a nurse accidentally gave morphine to a newborn baby in the intensive care unit instead of to the babyâ€™s mother, the California Department of Public Health announced Thursday.

The baby experienced respiratory problems and had to be intubated, according to the departments investigation report. The infant recovered fully and was released from the hospital about two weeks later.

The hospital was fined for failing to follow its established procedures for administering medication, putting the baby in â€œimmediate jeopardyâ€ of death or serious injury, according to the CDPH. This is the first fine for the hospital.

In April 2009, the babys mother whose identity was not released gave birth to triplets, who were taken to the neonatal ICU. The mother was â€œskin-to-skin bondingâ€ with her baby in the ICU when a nurse tried to administer morphine to the woman. Both the mother and infant had intravenous lines in, and the nurse apparently injected the morphine into the babys IV rather than the mothers.

The baby soon â€œbecame dusky, exhibited respiratory depression, and required intubation, according to the CDPH report. Hospital staff suspected the baby had accidentally been given morphine, and the baby tested positive for the powerful drug in its bloodstream.